An Intricate Lie
by Milk-Bubble-Tea
Summary: Aria has it tough, being told she's adopted and disowned in the same five minutes. She sails the seas, unwillingly becomes a wanted pirate, and gathers a crew (unintentionally). The young fifteen year old captain will meet allies and enemies alike on the sea. However, as Aria comes closer to finding the truth of her origins, what lies and truths will come with it? OC CREW STORY
1. Chapter 1

"...You're not my actual _mother..._?" the young girl whispered incredulously, eyes going wide. Panic suddenly flashed in those sky blue eyes.

It was silent for a few seconds before she threw her hands into the air dramatically. "How is that even possible-?!" she screeched, tearing at her long hair.

A kick to her head silenced her as she toppled into the floor rather pitifully. Steam seemed to sizzle from the head wound. In front of her, another girl seemingly aged no older than twenty, was smiling rather irritably.

"Adoption, brat. The answer's adoption." she answered smoothly, fishing out a cigarette and lighting it before placing it on her cherry red lips.

The named brat suddenly crawled to her knees, eye twitching, "I was _adopted_?!" she hissed. A tick appeared by the older girl's eye before she stomped her foot into her daughter's thick skull.

"Yes, any more stupid questions?" she muttered, taking out her cigarette and breathing out a puff of smoke.

"Well actually-" the younger girl started, raising a finger.

"Nope." Another kick sent her daughter flying towards a wall. She smiled as she clapped her hands, and decided it was a job well done. People clearly didn't know how to 'break the news' properly if they thought this shit was _hard_.

A groan sounded from the opposite side of the room. "T-then, who's my actual parents...?" a weak voice called out.

The blonde girl crossed her arms as she attempted to breathe calmly, "And how the _hell_ am I supposed to know that?" she scowled.

"You're my mother?" the raven head answered sheepishly, dusting the debris from her clothes from when she flew into the wall.

The blonde beauty smirked, "Not anymore, brat. You're free to go." she answered without missing a beat.

It was silent for about three seconds, which the young mother savored, before her ex-daughter started screaming again.

"Now you're _disowning_ me?!" she whined loudly, looking paler than normal.

The blonde held in a laugh as she nodded, "Look at you, you're learning." she smiled, shaking her head.

This time, the fifteen year old girl really did faint, her soul seemingly seeping out of her body. Her body crashed into the ground in a big heap, long raven hair spilling around her.

"Ardelle! Aria!" a muffled voice called out from behind the door.

Ardelle groaned and massaged her forehead as she tried to ignore the old voice. She had enough problems to deal with at the moment, besides her airhead daughter. A slightly twisted smirk appeared on her lips. Well, ex-daughter she supposed.

"Ardelle! You better not be abusing your daughter again!" the old voice continued to rant, knocking harshly at the door.

Ardelle rolled her eyes before strolling to the door and opening it, stepping to the side to allow the elderly man to fall to the ground after he lost his balance.

"What is it, old man? I ain't got all day." she muttered, grimacing when she reached into her pocket and felt nothing. "Shit, I'm out."

The old man glared at her and tried to look down at her, which was rather difficult when you were less than five feet. "This is _child abuse _Ardelle! I never treated _you_ this way-!" he hissed.

Ardelle shoved a gentle hand to the old man's face to keep him from throwing his fists at her, "Yes, yes, you don't need to remind me every hour. I'm not _abusing_ her, it's training. And," she answered, jerking her thumb at Aria. "She looks rather peaceful right now, doesn't she?"

The old man openly gaped at her, "You _killed_ her?!" he screamed shrilly.

Ardelle resisted the urge to bang her head into the nearest wall, as that would no doubt ruin her makeup. "Look at her, old man. She's _alive_ and disowned." she muttered.

The elderly man finally seemed to be satisfied, nodding slightly. "Oh. Alive and..." he mumbled quietly to himself, and in the time he was still processing Ardelle's words, the ex-mother had sneakily escaped through the nearest window.

Something seemed to snap in the elderly man's head. "_Disowned_?!" he screamed loudly enough to rattle the house.

Aria snapped awake at the loud voice, immediately sitting up. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!" she robotically forced out, saluting stiffly.

The old man and Aria connected eyes for a moment before he sighed, "You poor, _poor_ child." he mumbled, shaking his head.

Aria smiled sheepishly, "Hey grandpa." she greeted, waving a hand.

The short man continued to shake his head, "-you poor, poor child-" he continued mumbling.

"Grandpa?" Aria tried again.

"-told Ardelle she was too young, wouldn't listen-" he muttered, seemingly in his own little world.

"Have you gone senile?" Aria asked innocently.

"-running off like a, like a-"

"Grandpa, I'm still here." the young girl waved a hand directly in front of the old man's face.

"-should've stopped her, this is as much as her failure as is mine-" he sighed sagely.

Aria slowly tiptoed closer to the door backwards, "_Yeah_, I'm just going to...y'know..." she laughed gently, before quickly slamming the door after her and running down the trail.

Aria shook her head, "Senile, I knew it." she muttered, running off towards the marketplace.

The disowned girl examined herself. Beli in bra, check. Bandages covering right forearm for reasons unknown to her, check. Favorite black, hooded cloak and combat boots equipped, check and check.

"Aria! Have you seen Ardelle? She owes me money!" a grouchy voice called out to her.

Aria smiled bemusedly as she turned to face the man standing in front of his weaponry store. He was a tall fellow, with fierce looking dark eyes and an equally fierce glare.

"Nah sorry, just got disowned. I have no idea where she went." Aria answered with a small shrug.

The man loosened up slightly, "So, she's finally done the deed, eh? You're taking this rather calmly, aren't you now?" he smirked.

Aria laughed nervously as she waved a hand, "I got kicked three times for being surprised. I don't think I'll take any more chances." she answered seriously.

The man looked genuinely surprised as he stared at Aria, "She kicked you _three_ times?" he whistled. Aria nodded in affirmative. He chortled, "Funny, I would've expected at least six kicks and a roundhouse to go along with it."

Aria shivered at the thought, "I'm still healing from my _last_ injuries, Curse." Aria winced.

Curse chuckled, "From Ardelle or those pirates that tried to raid us last week?"

Aria gave him an unamused look. "From the pirates, _obviously_. I wouldn't be alive if I suffered two beatings from Ardelle in the same week. In fact, don't even _talk_ about such a thing." she shivered, hugging herself as if the thought hurt.

The older man scoffed, "C'mon, man up Aria. Now that you're not Ardelle's apprentice anymore, you gotta show what you learned these past fifteen years."

Aria pouted childishly, "Curse, I just got told I was adopted and disowned in the same five minutes. I don't even have my katanas back yet." she accused, pointing a finger at the blacksmith.

Curse winked, "Now you do!" he answered, tossing two long objects at Aria at alarmingly potentially dangerous speeds.

Aria grinned as she caught the katanas, "My babies, I missed you so." she hugged them, after having tossed a bag of beli to Curse.

Curse grimaced, "I work with weapons 24/7 and even _I _don't love weapons that much."

The swordsman stuck her tongue at him as she weaved the katanas into her belt. "I spent my life savings on these, they deserve a little love..." she muttered,

"It was just 70,000 beli and you bought it from a creepy travelling merchant." he pointed out, shivering at the mere mention of the merchant. Those eerie green eyes continued to haunt even _him_, one of the 'toughest' men in the town.

Aria waved her hand, "Small facts, but the big picture is that they're the best swords you've ever handled before." she smugly pointed out.

Curse couldn't deny that, including the time he was a blacksmith on some of the bigger islands. The quality was impeccable, although its origins were questionable.

"-anyway, I'm off now!" Aria cheered, pulling a packed backpack out of seemingly nowhere.

Curse was pulled out of his thoughts when Aria started charging towards the dock, "W-Wait, Aria! Where are you going?!" he yelled.

Aria didn't turn around to face him, ferry ticket in hand. "I'm off to find my real parents!"


	2. Chapter 2

It had been around seven hours since the young swordswoman left her home island, and she was already getting the hallucinations. She stayed half slumped over the edge of the ferry, and would have been mistaken for a corpse had it not been for her light, but noticeable breathing.

"Aye lass, ya doin' okay?" a passing sailor asked, gently patting her on the back.

Aria's response was to puke out last night's dinner into the ocean. The sailor cautiously backed away as the gurgling sounds continued.

The teen grunted as she sluggishly wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Great, now I feel ill _and_ hungry." she muttered, dark shadows under her eyes contrasting against her pale skin.

Despite her foul mood, the day was perfect for sailing. The sky was vast with enough clouds for shade, and the water was clear and soft ripples completed the picture perfect scene. Aria would have none of it.

Aria didn't _dislike_ the ocean, she just wasn't fond of nature in general. Add in some homesickness, a little regret, and you have a mentally and physically ill girl stuck in a ferry going hell knows where.

The young girl groaned loudly and weakly covered her ears when the intercom beeped. "Attention Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be arriving at Yoru no Hikari island shortly. Please remember to bring your belongings-" A sudden crash and scream interrupted the interception.

Aria's attention perked when a new voice suddenly took control of the intercom. It was a singsong voice, but no doubt a male's, "Please _do_ remember to take your belongings and surrender them, you're being raided-" the voice cheered almost excitedly.

Aria had to bite her tongue to keep in a laugh when she heard someone in the background swear, some crashing, and madness for a few more seconds until silence prevailed again. The raven-head smirked as she looked around. It was quiet, but everyone was stiff.

"Bring your treasures to the deck, and _step on it_," the voice snapped irritably, "Anyone that refuses will be killed on the spot, so don't be slow." With that, the intercom went off, as did the passengers that started panicking.

Some were actually _running_ towards the deck, almost looking eager to shove their prized possessions into the hand of pirates. Or at least, that's what Aria assumed they were. Most people were frozen in shock, or amusement; in Aria's case. Others opted to abandon boat, and swim back to shore if it meant keeping their belongings.

A loud bang echoed through the chaos. No one could argue that it was a gunfire. As the once pristine water started to seep red, Aria couldn't see anyone else trying to escape.

"Harsh." she whispered to herself, heading towards the deck for the heck of it. She wasn't going to give up anything today, and no one was going to _make_ her. Hell, she only took orders from Ardelle, and only because she really would die if she didn't.

Some people were weeping and walked slower than Aria. She found that she couldn't blame them, no matter how pathetic they were starting to look. Most of the passengers had come from her home island, or a smaller nearby island, looking for a new start.

A somewhat pained smirk curled upon her lips, "Well, this is definitely a new start." she muttered, watching as an elderly man started kneeling in prayer.

It was a brisk walk to the deck, where a majority of the passengers were passing off their bags into one, big pile in the middle. She observed the men who she assumed were the pirates. There were currently two in clear view, but their pirate ship was nearby with backup. Plus, Aria had her suspicions there was a sniper somewhere on the ferry as well.

A man with alarmingly red, short hair was waving his hands happily, "Remember everyone, only valuables." he smiled sweetly, and if not for the knives that he balanced on his fingertips, he looked like a normal citizen.

Next to him, was a stern looking man who ought to be the Captain. He had long, black hair tied samurai style. He was clothed in a simple, black kimono. On his waist, was a blindingly white scabbard. It screamed against the dark attire.

Aria named them Guy One and Guy Two in her head, for simplicity's sake. Guy One was still cheering. Guy Two was still scowling. She smiled. What a dynamic duo.

The swordswoman however was snapped out of her musings when an irritated voice hissed at her. "Oi _brat_, stop being dazed and hand your stuff over."

Aria slowly turned to face them, making steady eye contact with those unforgiving dark eyes. She almost wanted to go closer to see if she could make out what color they were.

She shrugged, "You said things of value. What can a little bit of beli and feminine products do for you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, looking half ready to unsheathe his sword and slice her head off. Aria smirked. It would certainly be a grand way to die, that's for sure.

"Alcohol and no split ends." he spat back in a cold, sarcastic manner.

The girl's eyes widened, "Did you just...make a joke? Like whoa." she murmured, tilting her head. "Didn't know you had it in you." she added sarcastically.

She laughed along with Guy One, which earned him a hard glare from his Captain. However, Aria could note it was visibly softer than any of his other glares she's seen so far. Secretly, she wanted to see his worst. The coldest, most bloodthirsty glare she could draw from him. A death wish too apparently, but hey she if she was going to die today, she was going to die pissing people off.

"Also, it's _feminine _feminine products. I'm pretty sure I need them more than you ever could." Aria explained blatantly, shaking her head at what possible fetishes Guy Two could have.

Guy Two glared at her with so much disdain, Aria wondered if he was trying to strangle her with his eyes. "Don't mock me, brat." he scowled.

Aria blinked owlishly, "I didn't?" she questioned. "I was just stating facts. Unless you need them, do tell ma'am." A victorious smirk curled upon her lips when she saw rage swirl in those hard eyes.

In a split second, he had his sword; a scimitar Aria guessed, held at her throat. It took her about three seconds to notice the actual blade pressing against her skin. She chuckled, Ardelle would have her ass if she found out she had let her guard down in front of armed pirates.

"Take it back."

Aria stared at him incredulously, "Which part do you want me to take back?" Not that she was _planning_ on taking anything back, but you know, might as well make the best out of her short life. Pity really, she didn't even have a chance to show off her swordsmanship.

"The part where you called me a _ma'am_." he hissed venomously.

The girl smiled sweetly, "Oh." she answered. It was silent for about three seconds, but she kept eye contact the entire time. She was a little curious. Did pirates feel resent for killing people? She wanted to see. She could see her own reflection in those midnight black eyes. She wondered if she could see the light leave her own eyes when she died.

He narrowed his eyes and pressed his blade a little closer, "Take, it, back." he ordered, seemingly losing his patience.

"Okay." Aria lied. "I-" However, just as she was about say her last sassy comment about his lovely hair, a loud engine suddenly echoed across the ocean.

"Captain! The Marines are here!" one of the pirates from the ship yelled.

Guy One suddenly stopped laughing, and had his smile wiped completely from his face. It was strange to Aria. For the fifteen minutes she's known him, not _once_ did he stop smiling. That reminded her, the little douche forgot their fifteen minute anniversary gift. Y'know, from a killer to his victim. Most victims don't last fifteen minutes.

Guy Two grit his teeth and glared at Aria for a few more seconds before huffing and removing his sword. "I won't kill you until I rip those words from your throat."

Aria laughed at that, "That would kill me, girlie."

Aria smiled innocently when steam sizzled from the taller man's head. She was fairly certain that she wasn't going to live soon, even with Marines boarding the ferry.

The young girl smiled sweetly and waved at the Marines, "Ah, hello-" she greeted.

"Shush, _pirate_!" one of them yelled, aiming his rifle at her.

A gunfire was heard for the second time that day. Although no blood was shed, everyone was stunned to some degree.

Aria had a stiff smile on her lips as she held one of her katanas out, letting the now harmless bullet fall to the ground. "_What_ did you just call me?" she demanded.

The Marine growled, "You damn pirate! You're all going to Impel Down!"

Aria had a tick by her eye, "Why you little..." she hissed.

Guy Two stared at her katanas, held tightly in her angrily shaking fists. Although Aria had no chance of seeing it, his lip twitched. _So they weren't just for decoration. _


End file.
